"We find it hard to believe that Gov. Walker would endorse such a broad reinterpretation of state compact language given the profound consequences for future gaming expansions in Wisconsin," Stockbridge-Munsee President Shannon Holsey told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "All we are seeking is a fair resolution that protects the validity of tribal-state compacts."

"Failure to act does a disservice to tribes in the state that operate gaming facilities in conformance with federal law and their compacts with the state," Menominee Chairwoman Joan Delabreau wrote in a letter, the paper reported.

A provision in the Ho-Chunk Nation's Class III gaming compact authorizes Class III gaming at four primary facilities and five ancillary facilities. The casino in Wittenberg is considered an ancillary facility. Source: Wisconsin Department of Administration

The dispute centers on a provision in the Ho-Chunk Nation's Class III gaming compact that addresses secondary or "ancillary" casinos like the one in Wittenberg.
According to a 2003 amendment, an "ancillary" facility is one where no more than 50 percent of the property is used for gaming purposes.

"This has nothing to do with any other tribe or any other tribe's compact," Ho-Chunk Nation spokesperson Collin Price told The Wisconsin State Journal.

The two situations are "completely different," a spokesperson for the Department
of Administration told The Journal Sentinel. The state believes the Wittenberg expansion complies with the compact.

Yet the same department recently expressed surprise after being informed of a different casino expansion project. The St. Croix Chippewa Tribe is building a larger St. Croix Casino Hertel
Express and a local newspaper questioned whether the effort violates a provision similar to the one in the Ho-Chunk Nation's compact.